What has made my faith stronger?

Section 46 of the document covenants describes different gifts of the spirit and tells us that each one of us is given a different gift.

Doctrine & Covenants 46: 13 & 14
13 To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world.
14 To others it is given to believe on their words, that they also might have eternal life if they continue faithful.

It was after we moved to Saint George that I realized that these two verses applied directly to me. Specifically verse 14 I was given the gift to believe on the words of those who by the Holy Ghost knew that Jesus Christ is the son of God and that he was crucified for the sins of the world.

Those people whose words I believed were primarily my mother and father and those are associated with during my childhood and teenage years. Upon returning from my mission in 1970 my faith was strong enough to withstand and support me as I began my journey in adulthood when I’m sure close to 90% of the people I’ve lived with and worked with did not have the faith to know that Jesus Christ was the son of God.

Most of them were very good people and because they were good people, they could have easily swayed me, but my faith was strong enough to remain true to the truth and faith that I believed based on the words of my father and mother.

As the months and years progressed I faced many setbacks and adversity including Kristine’s miscarriage, Tyler’s drowning incident, Landon’s near miss SIDS, my divorce, my father’s death, Heather’s pneumonia, inability to find work in Salt Lake, moving to Chino Hills, opening my own law office and the challenges of generating and earning enough income to provide for the family, Ryan’s death, being a father of teenagers, and then almost five years of foot surgery and being confined to a chair never able to walk during most of that time. This is only a partial list of the adversity and challenges I faced So I might walk through, others I crawled on my hands and knees up the hill of that particular adversity, and some with slide down the hill into a tar pit of adversity.

Throughout all that time I was never alone, I always had a gentle peace knowing that my father in heaven was close by and helped me through each of those challenging moments and adversity.
Making your faith stronger is just like building strong muscles, you need to exercise your muscles both with aerobic and anaerobic exercises. That is something I intellectually know but not something that I know because I feel it and I have done it. However, throughout my life, I have continued to exercise my faith through prayer, as a result of reading the scriptures, attending church, and giving service to the Lord.

The key to making your faith stronger is prayer, reading the scriptures, living the gospel of Jesus Christ by attending church and giving service to the Lord.