Zone Conference: Having the Faith to Find

Zone Conferences seem a bazillion years ago, I do remember they were going on when school started and that, my friends, has taken over my life.  But I shall try and give you the gist of the message. 

Presidente Hall took the New Testament  story of Cornelius to illustrate that the Lord is preparing people to hear the gospel just as He is preparing us to teach the gospel.  There are so many people who the Lord has placed in our path so that we can bring them the fulness of the gospel. 

The Lord knows who is ready but we don't--it is a mystery to us.  But the mysteries of God can be revealed to us and then we will know where to go and what to say.  This takes a miracle.  Miracles come by faith.  More faith=more miracles.  So how do we get more faith? Glad you asked.

Preach My Gospel (page 116 for those of you playing at home) states:

          Your faith will increase through diligent study, prayer, dedicated service, and obedience
           to the promptings of the Holy Ghost and the commandments.

So there you have it--who doesn't need miracles in his or her life?  Five things you can do everyday to increase your faith and increase your miracles.

1. diligent study
2. prayer
3. service
4. obedience to promptings
5. obedience to the commandments

Of course the zone conference focused on these things in a missionary context, but it is just as applicable in non-mission life.  Sometimes we think faith is something that just happens or maybe is given to us.  The concept that we can take specific steps to increase our faith is powerful. 

The real fun has been post-conference.  Missionaries are calling and texting to say that they have put the faith building to the test and, "President, we found our Cornelius."  My favorite was the missionaries who felt directed to go down a street and found a man sitting on his front lawn reading the Book of Mormon.  Or maybe the sisters who knocked on the door and the man said, "what took you so long to find us--we've been reading the Book of Mormon, we're in Alma and we want to know how to be baptized."  It is so exciting to see all these miracles!

Again from page 116: Faith leads to action...When you have faith in Jesus Christ you trust the Lord enough to follow His commandments--even when you do not completely understand the reasons for them.  You accomplish what the Lord wants you to accomplish...You are able to do miracles...

So get moving, people!  The Church is true, miracles still happen and God loves all His children.  Even you :)