Faith (In Him) to Move Mountains, YSA 98th Ward, July 2021

The purpose of my talk is to help you to move the mountains in your life by following President Russell M. Nelson’s 5 suggestions from his April 2021 General Conference talk, Christ Is Risen; Faith in Him Will Move Mountains.

When I was taught my first lessons on faith, I mistakenly thought that I would, one day, be expected to develop sufficient faith to literally move mountains. I can’t tell you how relieved I was, 30 years later, to hear President Nelson clarify that those mountains were figurative. He elucidated,  

My dear brothers and sisters…through your faith, Jesus Christ will increase your ability to move the mountains in your life, even though your personal challenges may loom as large as Mount Everest.

Your mountains may be loneliness, doubt, illness, or other personal problems. Your mountains will vary, and yet the answer to each of your challenges is to increase your faith. That takes work. Lazy learners and lax disciples will always struggle to muster even a particle of faith…

Your growing faith in Him will move mountains—not the mountains of rock that beautify the earth but the mountains of misery in your lives. Your flourishing faith will help you turn challenges into unparalleled growth and opportunity.

To help us develop the faith in Christ required to move the mountains in our lives, President Nelson offered 5 suggestions (which I will repeat in no particular order): 

1. Partake of sacred ordinances worthily. Ordinances unlock the power of God for your life.

What does it mean to participate in ordinances worthily? Fundamentally, the sacrament is a weekly opportunity to remember three of our baptismal promises: (a) to take Christ’s name upon us, (b) to always remember Him, (c) and keep His commandments. Participating in the sacrament ordinance is our opportunity to review our week and renew our covenants. As I listen for the promptings of the Holy Ghost during this sacred time, I am often mercifully reminded of specific things I need to change in order to improve my discipleship. In this way, the sacrament helps me grow ever closer to Christ.

Does being worthy mean being perfectly righteous? Of course not. We cannot become like the Savior all at once. None of us is perfect. We all make mistakes. But as long as we are trying to improve and be a better disciple of Jesus Christ, we are worthy to take the sacrament. “The Lord does not require perfect faith for us to have access to His perfect power.”

*Share analogy about how my identity as an elementary school safety guard (fluorescent vest) influenced me to not J-walk. Compare this to my identity as a Christian served to help me always remember Him in my moments requiring faith.

*If prompted* When faced with the choice to partake, we could ask ourselves questions like these:

• Am I taking the sacrament just so my parents or friends sitting nearby won’t wonder about me?
• Am I doing it to try to hide the bad choices I am making?
• Am I ignoring an uncomfortable feeling that is nagging me?
• Am I turning off my mind so I don’t have to think about what I am doing?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, let me say two things: (a) Good for you. When we pause to ask, “Am I worthy?” we are in one sense far ahead of those who partake routinely without giving it any thought. (b) Talk with your bishop. If you are afraid of what you might lose by confessing, you might exercise your mustard seed of faith by simply talking with your bishop about your fear. We are so lucky to be in this stake that I know has a healthy perspective on the repentance process.

However, if you are willfully sinning without any inclination to repent, then your bishop may counsel you to refrain from taking the emblems of the sacrament as part of your journey toward healing.

2. Study. Become an engaged learner. Immerse yourself in the scriptures to understand better Christ’s mission and ministry.

I’ll share with you a life-changing secret that has made scripture study meaningful for me—make it more of a hobby. For example, I love blogging about the minutiae of definitions and theological quandaries. I can read a single verse of scripture and then go off on my own for 2 hours cross-referencing and searching other sources if it’s investigative “blog research.” I invite you to consider what might make studying the scriptures more meaningful for you. Here are some ideas you might experiment with: mark up your scriptures in a meaningful way, journal your thoughts & impressions, find someone special to share them with, organize your thoughts with lists, create art, form afternoon study groups in the park, prioritize scripture study and calendar it. 

3. Choose to believe in Jesus Christ. Take your questions to the Lord and to other faithful sources. Study with the desire to believe rather than with the hope that you can find a flaw in the fabric of a prophet’s life or a discrepancy in the scriptures. Stop increasing your doubts by rehearsing them with other doubters. Allow the Lord to lead you on your journey of spiritual discovery.

While preparing this talk, I optimistically clicked on a REDDIT post that promised a discussion about President Nelson’s 5 suggestions. Unsurprisingly, however, the comment section was an echo chamber of doubt, reverberating with words like “cult” and “reason." Most of the commenters' defensive energy revolved around being called “lazy learners and lax disciples.” I thought about dropping 1 Ne 16:2  (“the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center​.”) in the comments and bouncing, but I didn’t. Honestly, I’m not too different from these self-proclaimed atheists. I value reason and often have very similar doubts. The real difference between me and these naysayers is our attitudes toward faith. I am willing to believe, and they are not.

4. Act in faith. (a) Think about it. (b) Write about it. (c) Then receive more faith by doing something that requires more faith.

*Share story about using this 3-step model while recently working on my dissertation.

*Bear testimony about President Nelson’s promise: “the Savior is never closer to you than when you are facing or climbing a mountain with faith.”

5. Ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, for help. God knows what will help your faith grow. Ask, and then ask again.

God doesn’t necessarily answer our prayers in the time or way we prefer. We must trust "His will and timetable—how and when He will bless you with the miraculous help you desire. Only your unbelief will keep God from blessing you with miracles to move the mountains in your life.” The most repeated invitation in the New Testament is to ask and knock. I am convinced this repetition was purposeful. Let us not be afraid to ask, and then ask again, sharing our feelings about our growth with Him along the way. 

*Share my values shift from putting a premium on obedience to developing a personal relationship with Christ and seeing life through a growth mindset.

All of you in this congregation have exercised faith by being here today. “Do not minimize the faith you already have. It takes faith to join the Church and remain faithful. It takes faith to follow prophets rather than pundits and popular opinion. It takes faith to serve a mission during a pandemic. It takes faith to live a chaste life when the world shouts that God’s law of chastity is now outmoded. It takes faith to plead for the life of a loved one and even more faith to accept a disappointing answer.”

Two years ago, Sister Nelson and I visited Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, and Tahiti. Each of those island nations had experienced heavy rains for days. Members had fasted and prayed that their outdoor meetings would be protected from the rain.

In Samoa, Fiji, and Tahiti, just as the meetings began, the rain stopped. But in Tonga, the rain did not stop. Yet 13,000 faithful Saints came hours early to get a seat, waited patiently through a steady downpour, and then sat through a very wet two-hour meeting.

We saw vibrant faith at work among each of those islanders—faith sufficient to stop the rain and faith to persevere when the rain did not stop.

The mountains in our lives do not always move how or when we would like. But our faith will always propel us forward. Faith always increases our access to godly power.

This story masterfully illustrates two kinds of miracles: (a) Miracles where circumstances are generously changed and (b) miracles where we are able to rise to the occasion and become equal to or greater than whatever trial we face. Personally, I think the second version grows us more.

*Share a final personal example that illustrates this second kind of miracle.

Conclusion:

“Your growing faith in Him will move mountains—not the mountains of rock that beautify the earth but the mountains of misery in your lives. Your flourishing faith will help you turn challenges into unparalleled growth and opportunity.”