Faith

Quote of the Day - Elder Bednar

David A. Bednar

True faith is focused in and on the Lord Jesus Christ and always leads to action. Consider this powerful example:

Under the leadership of Joshua in the Old Testament, the children of Israel transported the ark of the covenant. The Israelites came to the River Jordan and were promised the waters would part—that they would be able to cross over on dry ground.

Interestingly, the waters did not part as the children of Israel stood on the banks of the river waiting for something to happen; rather the soles of their feet were wet before the water parted. The faith of the Israelites was manifested in the fact that they walked into the water before it parted.

How many times in our lives do we want the waters to part so we can cross over on dry ground? Trusting in God enables us to press forward with a brightness of hope into uncertain and often challenging situations.

Quote of the Day

Commitment

March 19, 2014


This is the talk I gave at the Mission Conference:

When our youngest daughter was small, she always gave her father coupons for Father's Day.  They would say things like "This coupon good for 1 shoe shine" or "This coupon good for 1 bag of popcorn".  If he tried to redeem the coupon for popcorn, she always said okay and put a bag of popcorn in the microwave.  If he tried to redeem the coupon for a shoe shine, she would cry and cry because she didn't want to shine his shoes.  She came to visit us in Rome a few days ago and as we were preparing to go to the airport, my husband said "I ought to take one of those coupons with me."

As missionaries, we all wanted to serve a mission.  We had great intentions.  We received our calls, signed a letter of acceptance, and returned it to President Monson.  That was our gift to him.  Now that we are here in Italy serving as missionaries, are we okay with keeping the commitment to serve or do we cry because it is too hard?

In the Book of Mormon, Nephi was obedient.  He returned to Jerusalem to get the Brass Plates from Laban.  It was hard and his brothers complained and mocked him, but he did it anyway.  Nephi was instructed by the Lord to build a boat when he'd never done that before.  It was hard and his brother's complained and mocked him, but he did it anyway.

I'm reminded of the song, Nephi's Courage, that we sang in primary.

I will go; I will do 

the thing the Lord commands. 

I know the Lord provides a way,

He wants me to obey.

In 1 Nephi 3:7 it states:

"And it came to pass that I Nephi, said unto my father:  I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commanments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."

Just as the Lord prepared the way for Nephi, He will prepare the way for you.  All we have to do is be obedient by obeying His commandments and following in his path.

 

A Miracle for Emily

February 8, 2014

God hears and answers prayers.

Our eleven year old granddaughter has leukemia.  She was diagnosed a year and a half ago.  It was a tough decision to leave her and come to Italy, but President Eyring told us our family would experience miracles as we served.  We believed him.

Last week our daughter called and said the doctors were concerned because Emily's ANC counts (the ability to fight off infection) were extremely low and continued to drop.  That could be an indication that the cancer was coming back and she might need a bone marrow transplant if it didn't improve.

We made a decision to call family members and ask them to fast for Emily on Sunday.  We sent word to all the missionaries in the Italy Rome Mission and asked them to join in the fast.  We found out later that Stake Presidents and High Councilmen, home teachers and ward members in Italy found out and joined in the fast.

Three days later Emily went to the hospital for the determining blood test.  For this stage of her cancer, the doctors try to keep the ANC minimum between 500 and 1500.  The test results were astounding.  Her ANC  count had gone from 100 the week before to 4,800--AN ABSOLUTE MIRACLE.

The next day, instead of going to the hospital for a possible bone marrow transplant, Emily got on a bus and went with a group of children her age on a choir tour.  She still has about a year of chemotherapy left, but we have faith she will be cured.

Thank you for your prayers.  We have a testimony that God hears and answers prayers.

Letter to President

When missionaries understand the importance of faith and doing what is right even when they don't understand it, they are on the way to becoming great missionaries.

Ora una cosa molto importante ho imparato dalla conferenza di Zona.La missione è la nostra scuola per la vita futura,ci sono tante regole che non capisco e che trovo poco utili ma questo ho capito che non importa.Fa parte del nostro progresso eterno,non sappiamo quali comandamenti il Signore ancora rivelerà,potranno essere difficili da capire e da seguire ma penso che la missione ci sta aiutando proprio in questo.Dalla scorsa settimana mi sono fissato l'obbiettivo di essere obbediente in ogni cosa che la missione e  lei presidente mi chiederà di fare.Spero di non deluderla,le voglio tanto bene!

FAITH

I gave my first talk in the Puglia Stake Conference.  It was very, very short and very, very simple.  I wrote it while we were still studying at the MTC and had my tutor help me translate it into Italian.  He then spent days helping me learn to pronounce the words properly.  Every night Michael would listen to me read it over and over.  I was getting pretty tired of it, so I'm certain everyone else was, too.  A few weeks ago, I was informed I would have to give a talk in conference and knew it was a good thing I already had this talk prepared because I didn't have time to prepare one then.  A week before conference, we were informed a visiting authority would be at conference and I wouldn't have to speak.  (Yeah!)  Just in case, I took a copy of the talk and read it to the elder's riding with us.  It was kind of like role playing, something we really stress in this mission.  At the Saturday night meeting, Elder Leimer asked if I would speak the next day.  I was so glad I had followed the prompting to take the talk with me.  I'm not very good at speaking Italian.  Most of what I need to do is in English, but I do know a few words and I'm understanding more all the time.  Luckily, I have learned how to pronounce words and can read--even if I don't understand.  I feel like the new missionaries.  I was pretty scared to give the talk in Italian, but now that I've done it once, I know I can do it again. Faith

Fede

Brothers and Sisters
Fratelli e’ sorelle,

I am happy to be with you today.
Sono felice di essere con voi oggi.

Excuse me, I don’t speak Italian good, but I try.
Scusatemi, Non parlo bene italiano, ma ci provo.

Today I would like to speak to you about faith.
Oggi, vorrei parlarvi della fede.

What is faith?
Che cos’e’ la fede?

The book of Hebrews 11:1 tells us:
Nel libro di Ebrei capitolo undici versetto uno ci dice:

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Or la fede e’ certezza di cose che si sperano, dimostrazione di cose che non si vedono.

Why is it so hard to exercise faith?
Perche’ e’ cosi’ difficile esercitare la fede?

Alma 32:21 tells us:
Alma capitolo trentadue versetto ventuno ci dice:

And now as I said concerning faith–faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.
Ed ora, come ho detto riguardo alla fede, la fede non e’ l’avere una conoscenza perfetta delle cose; percio’, se avete fede, sperate in cose che non si vedono, ma che sono vere.

The scriptures teach us that faith without works is dead.
Le scritture ci insegnano che la fede senza opere e’ morta.

In James 2:17 we read:
Nel Giacomo capitolo due versetto diciasette leggiamo:

Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
Cosi’ e’ della fede; se non ha opere, e’ per se stessa morta.

In James 2:26 it says:
Nel Giacomo capitolo due versetto ventisei ci dice:

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
Infatti, come il corpo senza lo spirito e’ morto, cosi anche la fede senza le opere e’ morta.

I would like to tell a story.
Voglio raccontare una storia.

A minister went to a new city to preach.
Un ministro ando’ ad una nuova citta’ a  predicare.

He was discouraged because nobody came to church to hear his sermons.
Era scoraggiato, perche’ nessuno e’ venuto in chiesa per ascoltare le sue prediche.
                                            
One day he put a poster outide the church that said:
Un giorno ha messo un manifesto fuori la chiesa che c’era scritto:

The Church is dead.
La chiesa e’ morta.

The funeral will be next Sunday at 11:00 am.
Il funerale sara’ Domenica prossima alle undici di mattina.

The viewing will be at 10:00.
La visita a’ la salma sara’ alle dieci.

The next Sunday,a long line of people was waiting to see this dead church.
La Domenica sequente, c’era una lunga fila di gente che  aspettava di vedere questa “chiesa morta”.

Inside the church was a black coffin with the lid open.
Dentro la chiesa c’era una bara nera con il coperchio aperto.

Inside the coffin was a mirror.
Dentro la bara si trovava uno specchio.

When the people looked inside the coffin, they saw themselves and realized they were the ones who were dead, not the church.
Quando la gente guardavano dentro la bara, hanno visto se stessi e si sono rese comto che erano loro morta, non la chiesa. 

(Pause)

I hope that we are not like those people that saw themselves and realized they were the ones who were dead, not the church.
Spero che noi non siamo come quelle persone che hanno visto se stessi e si sono rese comto che erano loro morta non la chiesa.

We need to be active participants in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Abbiamo bisogno di essere partecipanti attivi nel vangelo di Gesu’ Cristo.

If I put a Book of Mormon on the podium and believe that faith will move it, nothing will happen.
Se io mettessi un libro di Mormon sul podio credendo che la fede lo spostarebbe, non accadrebbe nulla.
                                        
But if I have faith that the book will move, and then I lift the book with my hand and move it, I will have performed the work necessary to exercise my faith.
Invece se io ho fede di muovere il libro, lo alzero’ con la mano e spostarlo.  Cosi’ avro’ esercitato la mia fede.

My faith is rewarded.
Cosi’ la mia fede viena ricompensata.

I pray that each of us will have the courage to exercise our faith and that Heavenly Father will bless us for our work.
Prego che ognuno di noi avra’ il coraggio di esercitare la nostra fede e che il nostro padre celeste benedica ognuno di noi per le nostre opere.

I say this 
Io dico questo

In the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.
Nel nome di Gesu’ Cristo.  Amen.

Letter to President

I love the beginning of a new transfer! Its just like New Years but every 6 weeks.  It is a chance to look back and see how I progressed and what I still need to work on!  My companion and I know what we want to accomplish this transfer and with the Lord's help I know we can.  We made it a goal to get 5 baptisms by Halloween and we went to the Lord with a plan on how to accomplish this.  We went to Him with names, Maria and Pamela, Nina, Giulio, Fulvia, and Denis.  I know that if we have faith, work hard, are obedient, and always give 100% we will see miracles in Ladispoli! 

Light and Faith

Here's another one of those inspirational weekly e-mails that President Waddoups shared with me:


Okay so we get to ________ and I could not understand a single word she said and her dog wanted to be my Bff. Typical. She was really really down and I understood that she believed she had no faith.  It really was just depressing energy. So...I decided I would finally talk for the first time without my companion ripping words out of me. I told her that every single human needs light. We find light in the scriptures. At church. Durante prayer. when we love! All of the ways my Italian would allow me to express the sources of light! Oh, side note, she was listening really intently to me which was cool because everyone just cuts everyone off and she has heard everything about the church a million times. Okay so I told her all of that stuff then I said that we need to read the scriptures because eventually, without knowing it, we will have faith. etc. I then magically asked her if she would read at least one verse from the scriptures every day so she can have a beam of light and she, with tears in her eyes, said uh huh.  It was a room full of spirit and the negativity just bounced out of that room. 

Anna

There's a lady in Battipaglia who has been investigating the church for 13 years.  She goes to church every Sunday.  She never misses a ward activity or anything.  She says she really has a testimony.  She has been dressed in white three times and standing at the font and just hasn't been able to get baptized yet.  Since my name is Anna and her name is Anna, she might considering getting baptized sometime if I will come to her baptism.  If that's what it takes, I'll be there.