Remember Faith

 In a conference talk three years ago, President Nelson urged the men to “pay the price to bear the holy Melchizedek Priesthood.”  He suggested that to do so they should “seek to ‘be partakers of the divine nature’” as Peter taught in the scriptures.  President Nelson, referring to 2 Peter 1:5-7, said, “[Peter] named faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity, and diligence. And don’t forget humility!”  He suggested that the Lord was referring to this list of Peter when He gave the famous missionary passage: “Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence” (Doctrine and Covenants 4:6).  This is exactly the list of Peter’s except that “the Lord added humility to Peter’s list” according to President Nelson.  It makes sense, then, why the Lord began this verse with the admonition to “remember”—He expected that those receiving this modern-day revelation would know and have taken to heart the ancient scriptures that had already been revealed.

               As I pondered this verse in the Doctrine and Covenants, the phrase “remember faith” stuck out to me with a different meaning.  Though clearly He was referring to remembering the words of Peter, as I ponder the fact that I entered the MTC 15 years ago today I hear the Lord saying to me, “remember faith.”  Remember the faith that you had as a missionary; remember what it means to trust in the Lord and go forward with faith.  Surely I need to live by faith as much now as I sought to do then.  I remember the first night I arrived with my trainer to the city of Montpellier, France, we went out for a walk to talk with people.  We went to a nearby park, and I was excited to have the chance to present the Book of Mormon in my broken French to a man we found there.  His name was Eric and he didn’t speak French very well—he was a student from Columbia.  He accepted the Book of Mormon and gave us his phone number, and I was really excited.  I wrote in my journal the next day, “It was fun to teach him and he seemed really receptive—we’re going to call him today.”  I was full of faith that we would go teach this man the other five lessons and have him baptized in a few weeks.  But, to my shock, the number wasn’t even valid and we never saw him again.  My companion wasn’t surprised at all, and I soon learned why: most contacts didn’t lead anywhere, many phone number were invalid, and even the most amazing first discussions usually were followed by unanswered messages.  But, I learned, the key was to not lose faith—there were indeed people waiting to hear the gospel; there were those who would hear the voice of the Lord in the words of the Book of Mormon; there were those who would even call us back.  But we had to have the faith to keep talking, to keep calling, to keep testifying of the Savior and the restoration of the gospel.  I learned long after being transferred from that first city that there was a lady I had contacted at some point and given a pass along card who lived in another mission and who eventually got baptized.  I have no recollection of the brief conversation we must have had, and I must have assumed that her interest in the gospel ended with our discussion.  I’m grateful now that on that day whenever it was that I met her, I had had enough faith to keep talking. 
            So, as I labor through sometimes monotonous days in which I feel I don’t make much of a difference at work and my children don’t really listen to me and I fail to make my to-do list any shorter; and as I struggle to put on the divine nature spoken of by Peter, this verse from the Doctrine and Covenants calls to me, “Remember faith.”  Have faith that what you are doing matters.  Have faith that today will be a day that you will make a difference in someone’s life.  Have faith that this just might be the day when you really will be more patient with others like you pray for.  Have faith that what you teach your children today about the gospel will stick with them this time.  Have faith that Jesus Christ indeed has a work for you to accomplish and that He has put you here for a reason.  Have the faith that propelled you to keep telling everyone for two years that God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ did indeed visit the young boy Joseph Smith.  For that day really did change everything.