I have felt for some time that I have a lot of words about faith: scriptures, primary songs, hymns: but that for some reason I lack a deep-down, in the very center of my being, understanding of faith and how it works. When I asked to speak today on any topic of my choice, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to read more about and to increase my understanding of faith. As part of my preparation, I have read the Lectures on Faith, those lessons Joseph Smith prepared and taught to a group of elders in Kirtland, Ohio during the winter of 1834-35. I have also reread scriptures and had interesting conversations with friends and family about faith.
Faith is an interesting word. In a broad sense, it means to have confidence or trust in something or someone. We understand that if we are to gain eternal salvation, our faith needs to be centered in Jesus Christ. In other words, we need to trust Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and have confidence in their words. And how do we learn to trust them, to have faith in them? We do this by having faith. Lecture one in Lectures on Faith, states that "faith... is the first great governing principle which has power, dominion, and authority over all things; by it they are upheld, by it they are changed, or by it they remain, agreeable to the will of God" (5). This statement reminds me of the promise God made to Enoch as recorded in the Joseph Smith Translation of Genesis 14: 30-31: "everyone being ordained after this order and calling (the Melchizedek Priesthood) should have power, by faith, to break mountains, to divide the seas, to dry up waters, to turn them out of their course; to put at defiance the armies of nations, to divide the earth, to break every band, to stand in the presence of God; to do all things according to his will, according to his command, subdue principalities and powers; and this by the will of the Son of God which was from before the foundation of the world." I am also reminded of the scriptures about Joshua stopping the sun and moon (Joshua 10:12-13), Alma and Amulek being freed from prison (Alma 14:23-29), and Daniel being saved from the lions (Daniel 16:22). Imagine what we could do with such faith, with power over all things! We could change ourselves. We could overcome our weaknesses. We could live more righteous lives. I want to talk about my maternal grandfather for a few minutes and report on three people who have received help from the Perpetual Education Fund. My hope is that these stories will help us understand the power of faith in the lives of people who are as ordinary as we are.
My maternal grandfather, Richard Fredrick Harvey Warren, was a very ordinary man. Everyone called him Fred. In September 1895, at the age of 14, he was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. About 19 years later, he met and married my maternal grandmother, Jenny Kirsten Larsen, in Nephi, Utah. Their three boys and four daughters learned important lessons from their father's life.
Fred taught his children to work hard by working hard himself. He had two farms: 15 acres of irrigated alfalfa and 80 acres of dry-land wheat. Fred did the farming after putting in regular working hours at the Nephi Plaster Mill. He also worked for the county road commission maintaining county roads. Fred worked hard and expected his children to work. The family's two-bedroom home sat on about 1 and 1/4 acres in Nephi and the children were expected to help with the large garden, to gather eggs, milk the cows, and feed chickens, horses, pigs, and cows. The children learned not to complain when they had chores to do. If the daughter doing the dishes complained, Fred would open the cupboards and tell the child to also wash all the pots and pans: even though they were clean. If a son was weeding and complained that he was expected to do too much, Fred would add on several more rows to be weeded. The children learned to work hard.
My mother, Lily Doris, remembers thinking her family was "very poor" because she never got to wear store-bought dresses, However, at her father's funeral she realized that the family always had more than enough. Fred died on 3 August 1942 and was buried in the Nephi City Cemetery on 7 August 1942. After his funeral, many strangers from throughout the county approached Jenny, his widow, to tell her how wonderful Fred had been to them, how much they would miss him, and how his generosity had more than once helped them survive tough times. As Fred drove his horse and wagon around the county checking on the roads and repairing them when necessary, he often brought a needy family or individual a sack of flour or wheat, or potatoes and vegetables. For years, never telling anyone, not even his wife, Fred had quietly helped people in need. The children learned to be generous.
Perhaps the strongest lesson the children learned was to obey their father without question. Sometime after Fred's death, one of his sons: I think it was his second son, Harold: who served in the army during World War II--was in charge of a group of men. The men had bivouacked for the night. Several hours after going to sleep, Harold heard his father's voice telling him to move camp to another place. Without questioning his father's voice, Harold roused his men, had them break camp, and move to the place his father had indicated. A short time later, the original campsite was shelled. It was not until later that Harold realized two things: his father was not in the army with him and his father was dead. Nevertheless, Harold had heard his father's voice and had obeyed.
In 1940, Lily, was called to serve a stake mission. She and her companion knocked on doors, made appointments, and did their very best to teach the gospel. This was often difficult for Lily because Fred was inactive at the time and people would tell her to leave them alone and go teach her own father. One day in early April, Lily and her companion knocked on the door of a man with the hope of being able to teach him the gospel. He told the two young women that when Lily's father had quit smoking and returned to activity in the church, they could come back and he would listen to them. Lily went home in tears and reported the conversation to her father.
At some point in his life, Fred had taken up smoking. He rolled his own cigarettes and always carried the "makings" : a sack of Bull Durham tobacco and a packet of cigarette papers--in his front shirt pocket. On May 1st, Fred announced he had quit smoking and would go to the temple. On May 2nd or 3rd, Fred told Lily to get on her "wheel" [bicycle] and go to the bishop to get a temple recommend for him. Lily explained that she couldn't get a temple recommend for him; he had to be interviewed by the bishop. Fred insisted: and because Lily had been taught to obey her father and also because she knew it wouldn't work, she went to the bishop. To her surprise, the bishop signed a recommend, telling her that if Fred said he was worthy to go to the temple, he was worthy, and there wouldn't be any man more worthy of a recommend.
Of course, the stake president's signature was needed. Once again, Fred told Lily to get on her "wheel" and go get the stake president's signature. Once again she argued, but in the end obeyed her father, knowing that the stake president couldn't and wouldn't sign the recommend. However, Brother "B" , the stake president, took the recommend and signed it, telling Lily that if Fred said he was worthy to go to the temple, he was worthy. Lily was upset and angry and let Brother "B" know it. How, she asked, could he, a stake president, disregard church policy and sign a temple recommend for Fred without first interviewing him. Then the stake president told Lily a story. Several years previously when Brother "B" was running the flour mill, Fred had pulled his wagon and team into the flour mill behind a widow who was buying cracked wheat. Fred caught brother "B" with his thumb on the scale: which meant, of course, that the widow would pay for more cracked wheat than she received. Fred told Brother "B" that if he ever caught him doing that again, he would throw Brother "B" off the loading dock and stomp him. Brother "B" was a larger man than Fred, but he knew that Fred was capable of stomping him: and would. The stake president said it had been his habit for years to alter the weight; however, after Fred's warning, he never let his hand get anywhere near the scales. He told Lily that her father "was the most honest man he'd ever encountered in his entire life and if her father said he was ready to go to the temple, he was ready. All the stake president needed was Fred's word.
Six days later, on May 9th, Fred entered the Manti temple to be sealed to Jenny and their five youngest children. In his front shirt pocket, was a brand-new, unopened sack of Bull Durham tobacco. For the rest of his life, Fred carried that same sack of tobacco in his front pocket: unopened. He never talked about it and his children never questioned him, but my mother believed it was her father's way of reminding himself of the promises he made when he and his family were sealed for time and eternity in the temple. When Fred died, that sack of Bull Durham was still unopened.
The children of Richard Fredrick Harvey Warren knew their father could be trusted to keep his word. The people of the city of Nephi and of Juab County knew Fred would keep his word. He had a reputation: a county-wide reputation: for keeping his word, for being honest. People could have faith in the word of Richard Fredrick Harvey Warren.
Other examples of ordinary people whose word can be trusted can be found in many different places. A report on the Perpetual Education Fund is given on page 141 of the May 2011 Ensign. In the ten years since President Hinckley announced the fund, over 47,000 people have benefited. Basically, the PEF fund is a program that loans money for education to people who meet the requirements; when a participant completes his or her training, he or she repays the loan so that money continues to be available for other worthy participants. On the website for the Perpetual Education Fund, letters and comments from a few people who have benefited from this inspired program are posted. I will briefly quote three of the reports.
Mariela from Peru was able to complete "a three-year program in Peru's most prestigious technical school. She was one of only two women in the school and achieved the best grades in her class... . She reports: 'I am so very grateful. I am repaying the loan. I will not let the prophet down.'"
Jose M. of the Dominican Republic writes: "I am a convert to the Church from a very poor family. I served as a missionary and upon my return, the fund helped me to pay for a technical course in computerized accounting. From that time, my choices changed 100%. Before that, the jobs I had were always as a helper, carrying things, for example: duty-free operator, tailor shop, lathe operator, housepainter. But before finishing my studies, I already had a better job as a data input production worker, administrative assistant, and replacement parts warehouse man, and now I am a manager at a super warehouse that has inventory valued at some five million dollars in materials. And I even have a secretary, who by the way is my wife, as well as other people assigned as helpers. But the best thing about all this is that my income has increased some 400% in the last two years, and I was able to practically pay off my debt to the fund in three payments. I am really one of those who have been very blessed by the Lord because the fund has been put to work for us, those with the most limited resources."
Shirley from South Africa reports: "I made sure to pay off the PEF loan as quickly as I could. This helped me understand the importance of being responsible for my actions in order to bless other students that will need the help from PEF. My confidence levels increased as I paid off the loan and I proved to be reliable and trustworthy."
Mariela, Jose, and Shirley proven: to themselves and others: that they are people whose word can be trusted. We know that the word of the prophet Joseph Smith can be trusted.
The record of the great persecutions he suffered testifies of the strength of his word. As members of the church, we expect to be able to trust the word of the prophets and the other general authorities. The scriptures, of course, contain examples of people whose word could be trusted. I think about the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi who buried their weapons of war and gave their word they would never again shed the blood of any man (Alma 24:17-18). They were willing to die rather than break their word. I think about their sons, known as the Sons of Helaman, who gave their word to fight for the liberty of the Nephites, to give their lives if necessary to protect the Nephites and themselves from bondage. Alma 53:20 tells us that "they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted."
I also think about Richard Fredrick Harvey Warren and his decision to quit smoking and to take his family to the temple. To my knowledge Fred never talked about his faith. He did not talk about the help he gave to those in need. He did not talk about being trustworthy. Instead he lived his life according to gospel principles. To me he is an example of the power of faith. He changed the one aspect of his behavior that we know was not in accordance with the principles of the gospel. And I think about Mariela, Shirley and Jose. I think about their faith to take the steps necessary to improve their lives through education and to then repay their loans because they said they would.
It is difficult for me to imagine that any of us would ever need to stop the sun and the moon as Joshua did or be protected from lions as was Daniel, or, like Alma and Amulek, be freed from prison. I am quite sure, however, that each of us has some area in our lives that we need to strengthen as we strive to be trustworthy people of faith. Although I do not know what your individual challenges are, I do know my own weaknesses. The examples of ordinary people such as my grandfather Fred, and Mariela, Shirley, and Jose, indicate to me that whoever we are and whatever our circumstances, exercising faith will give us power to overcome our own shortcomings and to live in accordance with gospel principles. I hope we can exercise faith to live the gospel more fully in order to become people we can trust, people others can trust, and especially people Heavenly Father can trust. Let us examine our own hearts and exercise the power of faith to change ourselves for the better. As we exercise faith, we will gain the confidence that we are living our lives in accordance with the will of God. I pray that each one of us will strive to become people whose word can be trusted, people who live lives of faith. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.