The Power to Move Every Mountain

To my daughter,

               Today I want to encourage you to develop faith in your Savior like President Nelson invited us in this recent general conference. Faith in Jesus Christ is a belief and trust that as we follow Him and act as He would have us act, He will help and bless and strengthen us. The prophet said this, “Everything good in life—every potential blessing of eternal significance—begins with faith. Allowing God to prevail in our lives begins with faith that He is willing to guide us…. Alma asks us simply to experiment upon the word and ‘exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if [we] can no more than desire to believe.’ The phrase ‘particle of faith’ reminds me of the Lord’s biblical promise that if we ‘have faith as a grain of mustard seed,’ we shall be able to ‘say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto [us].’” Think of that—with your faith you can move mountains! President Nelson clarified what this means for you and me: “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.” You likely won’t need to physically displace a mountain, but you will have challenges to face throughout your life, and through strong trust in Jesus Christ I know you can indeed overcome them. Never forget our family motto that we can do hard things! And we can do them because we believe in Jesus Christ and He is always our support.

               As you know, you were named after a pioneer who had great faith. She was about 22 years old when she left England and came to the United States to join the Saints. Her father, mother, and sister had all passed away, and she ventured across the ocean with incredible faith. She arrived in New York in 1855 and stayed there working for the winter. The next year she joined the Willie Handcart Company and left from Iowa to walk over 1100 miles pulling a handcart with all her belongings! On the trail she had great courage and her granddaughter described her this way: “Here was one trait that Lucy Ward had in abundance, courage. She had poise, beauty and utter confidence in herself.” She then described one event that took place as they faced the terrible cold and many were dying: “My grandmother said a fine old man had a handcart next to her and when they came to the Platt River she was stronger than he and she waded across and took his car, then went back and got hers. She was asked to wash his clothing. She didn’t refuse, she went to her tent and prayed about this matter. Before she left England for this trek she never even washed her own, and how a man’s, a stranger until a few weeks previous. She was taught to be very proper. She prayed for strength of character, enough courage to do as she was asked. She had courage enough to come and faith in God, and faith in herself to do right, be true to herself. When she went out of the tent she felt almost happy about the prospect. She knew faith without work was dead. The next night the man died. She was so happy she had washed his clothing, he was buried in them.” What an incredible story of her faith and service, and despite the terrible challenges she faced on the trail, she braved the cold and hunger and suffering and made it to the Salt Lake Valley. It was through her faith in God that she overcame this trial, and I know in your life it will be the same. President Nelson said this, “[The Savior] took upon Himself your misery, your mistakes, your weakness, and your sins. He paid the compensatory price and provided the power for you to move every mountain you will ever face. You obtain that power with your faith, trust, and willingness to follow Him.” No matter what difficulty you face in life, through your faith in Jesus Christ I know that you can overcome it! I hope that you can always remember this powerful declaration of Paul: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13). 

Love,

Dad