We had ward conference today and I was asked to speak. Here is the talk that I gave.
A few years ago my husband and I purchased a home with a wonderful
garden plot. We made big plans about our garden, envisioning baskets full of
delicious vegetables. Near mid-summer, our enthusiasm dwindled; we neglected
our garden and harvested a small crop of vegetables. Our second year was even
worse. This was frustrating, but we had not put in the effort to receive the
reward and blessing of a bounteous garden.
Developing faith in and growing
a testimony of Jesus Christ
is much like gardening. It is a dynamic process requiring effort, diligence,
time, and patience. When one is wholly engaged in developing faith in and a
testimony of Jesus Christ, the fruits are bounteous and rich. Half-hearted
approaches yield a half-hearted faith and testimony. Neglect is the most
damaging of all and can lead to a shriveled and fragile testimony.
In order for my family to cultivate a successful and
thriving garden we needed to do the following: cultivate healthy soil, plant
seeds in a sunny area, maintain proper moisture, protect the garden, and weed
fanatically. I think this applies so
well to building faith and testimony. In
order to cultivate strong faith and a thriving testimony of
Jesus Christ, we
need to have a healthy foundation, feed our testimony, protect our testimony, and
weed out sin and doubt.
In gardening you need to start with good soil to grow good
plants. You can test your soil to understand the acidity and alkaline
levels. By tilling the ground, mixing in
fertilizer, and adding certain nutrients, you can put your soil back into
balance. How does one get good soil for one’s testimony and faith? I love
Alma chapter 5 because the prophet, Alma, asks a series of penetrating and
discerning questions about one’s spiritual foundation. Answering Alma’s
questions will give you the answers on how you need to tweak your foundation.
Once you have cultivated good soil, you plant seeds. Seeds
need sun and water in careful doses to thrive. I believe that consistent
scripture study and prayer are as essential to our testimonies as sun and water
are to plants. I invite you to try an experiment. Does your faith in Christ
feel a little anemic? Go to
the Book of Mormon and start marking every
reference to Jesus Christ. As you do so, ponder and pray about what the Book of
Mormon teaches about the character and message of Jesus Christ. I know your
faith will perk up just as thirsty plants do after they have been watered. The
best way to maintain faith is to read and pray a little every day.
It isn’t enough to provide sun and water for your garden,
you must protect it from pests that can attack and destroy fragile plants. Insects
must be managed carefully. We build high
fences to protect our gardens from hungry deer. Likewise, we must protect our
faith and testimonies from pests that would destroy us. We can set up barriers
to protect our faith, like avoiding inappropriate media content. We can choose
to avoid debates with others and instead share testimonies and love. We can
also ask for protection and strength. When we make covenants at baptism and in
the temple, we are promised blessings of protection as we are obedient to those
covenants. Attending the temple regularly and partaking of the Sacrament weekly
helps us remember and renew our covenants, giving us constant protection
throughout our lives.
Weeds are the bane of my existence, and I suspect, almost
every gardener. If you aren’t diligent about removing weeds, they can quickly
overrun a garden. When a garden is overrun by weeds, you have to take drastic
measures to undo the damage. Similarly, we must consistently weed out the
problems that threaten to overwhelm our testimonies. Sin can quickly overrun a
testimony because it becomes harder and harder to feel the Spirit and the love
of Heavenly Father. It is much easier to weed sin out consistently than let it
take root. Sometimes, we do let little sins take root and they grow and deepen.
In our garden, we found one particular type of weed to be quite obnoxious. When
small, you could uproot it. But when it grew big, it was almost impossible to
remove without serious help from a good sharp shovel. Sometimes there are sins
in our lives that are simply too big to uproot without help. This is where our
Bishop comes in. He will help you uproot those deep sins which are threatening
to overcome your testimony. Another pernicious weed that threatens our
testimonies is doubt. We all have doubts at one time or another. We can’t allow those doubts to grow—we
mustn’t cultivate our doubts at the expense of our testimonies. The only way I
know to really address doubt is to take it to Heavenly Father, to plead
earnestly for help in prayer and to search the scriptures with diligence and
care.
The biggest lesson I have learned about my gardening
failures is that growing a garden requires consistent good habits. This is also
true for growing our faith and testimonies. We need to cultivate the habit of
growing our faith and testimony through keeping a strong and balanced foundation,
feeding our testimonies with scripture study and prayer, protecting our
testimonies from pests and attacks, and constantly weeding sin and doubt from
our hearts.
The whole purpose of gardening is to produce food that will
nourish and sustain our bodies. We need that nourishment and sustenance for
strength to live, thrive, and sometimes, to simply endure. We need faith and a testimony of Jesus Christ
to nourish and sustain our souls.
Matthew recounts a story in Matthew 14. After feeding a
large multitude with just a bit of bread and fish, the Savior sends his
apostles on a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee, while he spent some time
praying. In the evening, strong winds
came, tossing the ship with great waves. “And in the fourth watch of the night
Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. “ The disciples were scared but Jesus
Christ called out to them. Peter, impetuous and wonderful Peter, says, “And
Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the
water. And he said, Come. And when Peter
was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when
he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried,
saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and
caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou
doubt?” Peter walked on water, in the
middle of the crashing waves and fierce wind, when he focused on the Savior. He
sank when he began allowed doubt and fear to overtake him.
The truth is that every single one of you sitting in this
chapel today will face challenges, storms, loss, pain, sorrow, and grief of the
highest magnitude. Strong faith in Jesus Christ and a testimony of Him will
allow us to walk through the storms of life with hope, courage, and even joy.
I testify that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. I
testify that God loves us and is watching over us.
© 2007-2016 TIFFANY WACASER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
